Garmin has announced the nüLink! 1695 – a 5-inch touchscreen portable navigation device that connects drivers with relevant, online information from Garmin’s nüLink! service, including links to online information like Google™ Local Search, traffic, weather, fuel prices, flight status, and other real-time, location-relevant content, plus it uses nüRoute™ technology with trafficTrends™ and myTrends™ to make your daily commute easier than ever. The U.S. version of the nüLink! 1695 comes with one year of free Garmin nüLink! services out-of-the-box, and is also the first device to offer the nüLink! Store where customers can purchase optional premium services.

In addition to the local search capabilities, Garmin nüLink! offers a plethora of other online services that will help you travel like a local. Convenient services like local events and movie listings help customers find interesting activities wherever they might travel. Real-time flight status takes the stress out of traveling to the airport with up-to-the minute arrival and departure information for major air carriers. Plus, the Garmin nüLink! traffic feature provides the best-in-class information from NAVTEQ™, a world leader in premium-quality mapping, to help customers navigate in and around congestion.

With nüLink! 1695 customers will receive efficient routing and realistic arrival times with trafficTrends, which recommends routes using historical data and recurring trends that Garmin has collected about traffic in your area at any given time of day. And making your commute easier than ever, the nüLink! 1695 remembers your frequent favorite destinations and uses myTrends to predict your destination without you needing to activate a route, displaying your arrival time and best route based on relevant traffic information. I don’t know about you but I have been wishing for a capability like this for years. In addition, the nüLink! 1695 includes lane assist with junction view so drivers will see a realistic presentation of road signs and junctions along the route, as well as arrows that indicate the proper lane for navigation where available.

The nüLink! 1695 comes standard with ecoRoute™, an innovative application that helps customers stretch their dollars and conserve fuel by creating routes that are optimized for using less fuel. The nüLink! 1695 also has Bluetooth® Wireless Technology that makes it possible to receive and place phone calls directly from the device.

The U.S. version of the nüLink! 1695 has preloaded maps of North America and is expected to be available in September 2010 for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $449.99. In the U.S., the first year of Garmin nüLink! is free, and after that, the subscription renewal price for data services is $5.00/month.

I am the Co-Ceo of DLT Digital Media. We are a company that is focused on developing new and innovative web properties in addition to developing WordPress based web sites for others. But before I was all that, I was a gamer.